Last moments

RENO

I had lost count of how many push ups I had done .

It was probably a lot since I was beginning to feel a creak in my shoulders , I did not usually feel creaks until after I had passed the eight hundred mark .

I finally stopped and stood up from my position .

Someone had left me a towel and a flask , I picked the towel and wiped my face before sipping the contents of the flask .

Hmmm , cold cranberry juice .

It had to be Ollie , he was the only one that would leave me cold cranberry juice .

I walked towards the center of the gym where a large boxing ring was situated .

Rio and Ollie were currently pommelling each other into bits .

Ollie had been my brother's friend since we were children .

Best friend was an exaggeration since Rio and I had been so inseperable that we had no really close friends other than each other .

Our grandfather used to joke that we might as well have been conjoined twins .

But he was Rio's closest friend and Rio had confided that he would make him Gamma when he became Alpha .

"When he became Alpha".

We had made so many plans of how we would live when Rio became Alpha but now there was a chance I would no longer be a part of any of those plans .

I did not want to admit it to my family because I knew they would go to the end of the Earth if I chose not to marry Alex but I was hurting .

I had never been away from my family for longer than a day and I had never gone more than a few hours without seeing Rio .

" Hey Reno , you're done ? " , Rio suddenly shouted when he noticed me standing by the corner .

Ollie turned his head to also take a look and Rio without wasting time gave Ollie an uppercut .

Ollie flew back , the thick ropes of the ring breaking his fall .

I laughed loudly , Ollie always fell for Rio's stupid tactics .

Ollie groaned loudly , " You are such an immature cheat ".

Rio stuck out his tongue , " Says the sore loser" .

He jumped out of the ring with his hands around a flask he had picked up by the edge of the ring , it was an exact replica of mine .

He saw Reno's face and stopped , the drink halfway to his mouth .

" You've been thinking about it ", Rio observed as he walked closer .

I scoffed.

" I can't exactly not think about it ", I told him .

He nodded .

" You said it yourself , we will be only an hour away from each other and I will always be your big brother who will be ever ..."

" Just shut up ".

He did as I asked .

We both knew that Rio was terrible at comforting and any sentimental relations in general .

We both watched silently as Ollie cleaned the gym in preparation for today .

" You don't have to go ", He professed .

" I do kind of have to ", I told him .

" I will protect you and our pack if you don't want to ", he said .

I chuckled .

" The strain of having the other packs breathing down our necks will be terrible on both of us ", I shared .

" I will handle them ", He assured me .

I smiled , my brother was not going to hide behind me anymore .

He was not going to hold down people while I drew penises on their foreheads .

He wasn't going to wake me up every morning , there wasn't going to be any friendly brawls in the rain .

How would I survive without my brother ?

" I have no problem with marrying Alex , I can handle that ", I stated .

" What I am scared of is ...what I do not think I can handle is not being around mum and dad and you and the pack , I mean how am I going to even get out of bed without you forcing me out ? " 

Rio chuckled .

" Don't become a crybaby on me , I told you , I will only be a mind link away " , he whispered .

" Even if there's nothing wrong and you are just tired , I'll come and get you out of there , then I'll torch Alex after tying him to their pack house ", he promised .

I laughed at this .

" Are you over your phobia for fire ? " , I inquired mockingly .

He glared at me , his eyes becoming slits .

I had once convinced Rio to play with a match box with me when we were little kids .

A lit match stick had somehow ended on Rio's head and burnt his hair to the scalp .

Mama's punishment for him had been that he would not wear any caps till his hair grew while I had worked in the Pack's kitchen for weeks .

I had fought the longest fight of my life during the two week period that Rio's hair grew .

Beating up everyone that laughed or pointed at Rio even if they were older or larger than me took a lot .

I still had scars from then .

" I'm going to forgive you since my hair grew back ", he whispered .

" You once lost your hair ? ", Ollie called from behind us .

We had been so wrapped up in our conversation we had not even noticed him .

" No " , We both chorused .

Ollie blinked , his gray eyes gleaming .

" I didn't know you once suffered such , was it cancer ? " , he asked again .

" I didn't suffer anything , especially not cancer ", Rio countered , his green eyes were blazing .

" Ahahh ", Ollie chuckled, " It must be from that time in middle school when you lost all your hair to a freak accident ".

Rio's eyes flattened .

" No , it's from the time I found out that you were in love with my ..."

" Oh , look at the time . Shouldn't you two be going to have breakfast now ? ", Ollie suddenly shouted as he cut off what Rio was about to say .

Reno chuckled excitedly .

" Ollie likes someone ? Is it someone I know ? Is she Ollie's mate ? Come on Ollie , confess to her .And if she refuses , you can just ...."

Rio had put his sweaty palm over my mouth .

I watched from the corner of my eyes as they exchanged some weird male looks .

I kept struggling with Rio and would have bitten him if the thought was not so scary .

He finally let me go .

" Oh Moon goddess ", I exclaimed .

" Ollie's in love with someone that has a mate ! ", I yelled out. 

Rio face palmed while Ollie continued to avoid my eye , quite sketchy if you ask me .

" Come on , we are leaving ", Rio called as he dragged me out of the gym .

" I will find out sooner or later , you can't keep it hidden from me ", I screamed as I was dragged out .

" Is she really mated ? ", I asked Rio once we were outside .

" Something like that ", He replied .

I knew Rio , there was no getting any information out of him if he did not want me to know .

He lifted his flask to his mouth and drank .

He spat it out a moment later .

" What the fuck is this ? ", He bellowed , his face was scrunched up .

I grabbed the flask and drank from it , it was lemonade .

Very sour lemonade .

In face , it was just squeezed lemons .

" What did he give you ?", he asked as he pointed at my flask .

" Cranberry Juice ", I replied as I gave him my flask to drink out of .

" That idiot. This is what I get for keeping his secret ? ", Rio complained. 

" What secret ? " I asked with a small smile .

He pretended not to have heard and just finished my juice .

The streets were finally full of people going about their daily business .

We reached the pack house almost forty five minutes later .

Being the Alpha's daughter automatically meant that everyone wanted to pour their hearts out to you .

Since the Alpha was too scary , the female Alpha too busy , the soon to be Alpha also quite unapproachable , I had to be the face and ears of the family. 

When we reached the pack house , Mum and dad sat at the table , their meals were untouched .

We took our seats next to them .

" What's up Alphas? ", I greeted .

Mum raised her head and I saw that she had been crying , her eyes were rimmed with red and she suddenly looked older .

Dad's frown lines had tripled .

" It's me , I'll be okay ", I tried to assure them .

Mum took one look at me and turned to dad .

" I'm not giving my child to that ass and his son who is an even bigger ass ", She was being really graphic .

" I don't want to give Reno out to anyone either ", Dad replied gruffly .

I held both their hands .

" Come on Alphas ,I'm not being sold to become a slave or something . I will be an Alpha and if my plan works well , I will do away with Alex and become sole Alpha ", I announced brilliantly. 

I laughed at my brilliance while the rest of my family forcefully joined .

" The part where you do away with that poor boy is a joke right , Reno? ", Mum looked about ready to squeeze my head of .

" Poor boy ? You called him an ass just now ", I yelled .

" Honey , I love you but I'm not blind to your flaws . Any man that marries you will always have my sympathy ", She said .

I scoffed .

" I'm a joy to be with , right dad ? "

He ignored my question and instead announced something else .

" So , the biannual meeting is in a few days , are you all ready ? ", Dad asked .

I sighed .

Biannual meeting meant I would have to see Kane Weston .

He was a fucking bore that balked at every fun thing I wanted to do and reported every mess I made .

And , I was probably going to be seeing my future husband , Alex fucking Herrera .

But , Kane was Alpha now which means I can't even mess with him or pull down his pants when he's not looking .

Maybe I could fill his room with frogs .

" Does she have to go ?", Mum asked .

" Of course I do , I want to see what corny Kane looks like as an Alpha ", I admitted .

Rio cleared his throat .

" I'll be alpha soon , So I have to form good relations with Cor...with Kane ", He stated .

I nodded , he was right .

" How about you leave the other things to me while you do Alpha business ? ", I asked .

" No ", Dad said ," There won't be any pranks this time around ".

I gasped and looked around the table , they were all wearing the same expression.

For some reason , I felt distant , like we had already been separated .

I pushed my chair back and got out of there , running out of the pack house .

I changed midway and kept running till I could no longer run .